2018 Bulk Price

[markcasper]

I didn’t taste it I should of thou. Where you the guy with short hair and overalls on?

Yes I had bibs on. Were you the guy with the wife that was near the candy machine?

[spud]

Although we agree on most points, re-consider Crown Maple and The Maple Guild (Island Pond). The primary function of each is to not make money. They are both now in the mass distribution channels (I saw one of them in WalMart). In my opinion, its the mass distribution and sudden availability of maple at a low price that will keep prices low. I wholesale all of our syrup, 1000 gals+ every year, and the one trend I'm noticing is that there is hardly a spot on the map that cant get maple syrup from their distributor. Once the scarcity and uniqueness is gone, all we've got left to sell is our own individual story, and if we're all doing that and cant/won't compete on price, it'll be some tough sleddin! ....If you're up this way, look me up,....

Spot on my friend.

Spud

[S.S.S]

Yes I had bibs on. Were you the guy with the wife that was near the candy machine?

Yep that was us

[Parker]

I agree with you guys that with more players in the market marketing will be more difficult,,,but,,,i woyld argue that there will be many who wont make the effort and if yoy have a better story and are reliabel (especialy if you have a unique product, angle and plenty of hustle) there is oppertunity....
As far as the bulk price,,,,its going way down,,,,imho......the packers only have so much money, storage, production ability, and, markets to supply

[GeneralStark]

It's the producers in Maine and Massachusetts that have the largest opportunity knocking on their door for diversifying into a new market....

[Scm]

..........

[minehart gap]

Now your thinking. But how do you infuse the two? Butters and oils have the fat that the molecule need to stick too. I don’t think it sticks to sugars.

Steam maybe?? I know that everything that I wear in the sugar shack while boiling is infused with maple smell, probably taste as well.

Nuts! The munchies need to be satisfied.

[markcasper]

I agree with you guys that with more players in the market marketing will be more difficult,,,but,,,i woyld argue that there will be many who wont make the effort and if yoy have a better story and are reliabel (especialy if you have a unique product, angle and plenty of hustle) there is oppertunity....
As far as the bulk price,,,,its going way down,,,,imho......the packers only have so much money, storage, production ability, and, markets to supply

It depends, when I was at the Leader open house I was talking with the older Gillian fella from Leader. He said he had a talk with Bascom and that he told him he can't lie to these producers, referring to the exchange rate. The exchange rate has narrowed substantially over the past year. He said that Bruce has quite a nice profit sitting there in terms of what the exchange was when he bought the syrup compared to what it is now, he mentioned a 2 million dollar profit just because of "buy low, sell high". He also told Bascom that he will be forced to pay up if the exchange rate keeps narrowing or he simply won't get the syrup. You can interpret it for what its worth, but this is what he told us.

I also became aware that Andersons is looking for syrup which is a good thing, running low. I was told by a key player that there is syrup out there, but people are sitting on it and won't let go. I think anything below $2 a pound will reach a barrier for many producers. Their going to start to ask themseleves, (including myself), why are we doing this? Not sure about you's out east, but Anderson has gotten to be a very large player in syrup packing. They have got to be in the top 10 in North America, if not more in terms of volume.

I also noted at the open house....very few people at the maple cream show, but hoards at the tubing installation seminar. So that simple observation tells where people want to spend their time, and could be intrepeted to tell you their is room for growth in value added. The problem is the time it takes to make and market it does not match or come close to a job in town.

[S.S.S]

Pete from Roth sugar bush was talking at maple institute in Wausau and was saying if there's so much syrup out there then why can't you get any when you call out east to buy some. He said they tell you don't have any available to sell.

[markcasper]

Pete from Roth sugar bush was talking at maple institute in Wausau and was saying if there's so much syrup out there then why can't you get any when you call out east to buy some. He said they tell you don't have any available to sell.

I am sure there could be some found....at the right price. When it jumps to $3/ pound, then I'll be a believer. Do you really think that ANY equipment salesman will want you to think there is a surplus?